Are you a jack-of-all-trades?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Upon reading this thread I realized that I can do just about any simple skill, and even some complex ones. I then got to wondering how many people out there are like me. Is it normal to know this much stuff? Or am I in some sort of small minority of people that can do anything, like the Pretender?

A short list of things I can do/skills I have is:

cooking and other domestic skills (I can’t sew, knit, or do anything like that, though.)
wilderness survival skills (I’ve never started a fire w/o at least flint + steel, but I do know how to do it, in theory)
basic first aid (I can even do a tracheotemy if I really needed to.)
basic automotive maintanance (change a tire and some oil, no prob.)
home repairs and constuction (I can practically build a house)
simple electrical skills (I can even wire the house.)
landscaping (I’ll also give it a garden and retaining wall)
creative skills (I’m musically inclined, and do theatre. I can’t draw, though, despite actually taking several drawing classes all my work looks like a five-year old drew it)
I know a good deal about science and a fair amount of math (average knowledge of history and other social sciences)
I’m also very knowledgable in the realm of layout and editing
I can swim and even have basic boating knowledge and skills
l33t computor skillz (i can r0x joo4 b0x)
This is but a partial list, but as you can see I am well versed in many areas. I challege you to find something I can’t do! Likeways, I ask my fellow jack-of-all-trades to rise forth and claim our titles as the world’s most versatile people!

2

Yeah, I am, but my Cowboy has me beat.

But I can:

[ul]
[li]Sew, by hand or machine[/li][li]Cook damn near anything from scratch[/li][li]Grow my own food - meat OR vegetables[/li][li]Rebuild a carbuerator[/li][li]Change my own oil[/li][li]Train a dog[/li][li]Design a landscape (although I can, I’m not so good at maintaining it, but that’s a motivation issue, not a competence one!)[/li][li]Operate most technology at a user level, even if not at a programming level[/li][li]Kill, gut, skin, process, and cook my own wild game[/li][li]Drive a tractor[/li][li]Pack into, and OUT of, the wilderness[/li][li]Beat my ten year old at video games[/li][li]Make jam[/li][/ul]

I’m sure there’s more. I’d like to learn how to weld and also to fly a helicopter though.

3

Definitely a jack of all trades. Why you ask? Because I like learning how to fix things, and I love hands on stuff. It’s really that simple. Sometimes I go a little manic and build a tree house, but usually I’m pretty calm. :slight_smile:

4

Sometimes it’s fun to brag J

Jake of all, master of none.

I earn my living as a computer programmer.

But at home, I love to work on stuff. I am currently building a 2 story addition on my house.

I did all the design work.

I rented a track hoe to dig the foundation. Did the prep work for the concrete (rebar, wire, expansion joints. Including infloor heat.

I’ve done all the framing/roofing/windows/doors. It’s a utility and mechanical room and I did all the plumbing. I hope to finish up the siding this summer.

I built a loft and a bathroom in our master bedroom.

I used to do all my own work on my cars but have slacked off a bit. Including rebuilding transfer cases, carbs, and swaping out engines.

Currently rebuilding a Yamaha 650.

Camping.

Heavy equipment. Have rented track-hoes, bulldozer (D-4h) and back-hoes (580). All for my own property. I own a small loader, sometimes it just isn’t big enough.

Snow plow. Every winter baby, only way I can get home.

Lived may a year getting my own wood and heating with it

Good cook. Or at least I think so. I enjoy it and like to try out different stuff.

Like Pholsphr, I love hands on stuff. And TOOLS. Lots and lots of tools.

I just hate hiring something out if I can figure it out myself.

5

I never have had the oppurtunity to check my knowledge out but in almost all situations I have encountered so far I know what to do. I know all systems of the car, all the systems of the house, survival skills, modern physics, mathematics, english, history, and I have a good range of artistic expressions through many media outlets. And my dad’s name is Jack.

6

‘Jake’ of all trades except spelling.

7

I’m a JOAT for sure. Learned some skills because I wanted to be able to do it, others I learned because I had to.

One of the few things I would like to be able to do, that I haven’t tried, is welding.

8

Jack-of-All; Master-of-Some.

Kinda goes with the territory, since I have Teaching Credentials in Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and English. That deals with the theoretical. I also have some small skills in wilderness survival, automotive repair and maintainence, and household repair. I am an excellent cook, and I can do most common sewing chores. I know how to crochet, and I am trying to take up knitting, but RL keeps intruding. I am a trained Marksman, and I have a modicum of knowledge of the use of most weaponry on the planet. I have been a professional photographer in the past, and I have training as a Life Guard. My piloting skills are woefully out-of-date, and I haven’t taken a sailboat or catamaran out in too long, but I used to be pretty good at that kind of stuff. I used to think my knowledge of Trivia was unmatched, until I started hanging out with you people!

I am large…I contain multitudes! :smiley:

9

You too? Welding’s been on my list of things to try for quite a while. Actually came aboutthisclose to buying a “starter” MIG rig a couple years ago.

Another “want to do it someday” item is plaster. I’ve hung a few walls in sheetrock, but one of these days, want to have a crack at gen-yew-ine plaster on lath. Just from the artistic standpoint - any fool can screw sheetrock to studs, glob on the mud and tape, then spray a “knockown” finish on it and have a passable result without worrying if it’s smooth, but plaster is an art.

Some of my more notable tricks are:

Trace and find phone wiring
Sweat copper water pipe
Sneak wires (new power circuits or phone/cable TV) from here to there inside walls so they’re not visible
Hang pictures so they stay level and not get knocked sideways with every 3-pointer earthquake
Change major automotive components - brakes, starter, water pump, etc
Replace window glass
Various McGyver-isms like repairing a printer with a hanger or getting the college TV station on the air with a Bic pen*
Plus the basic abilities to cook, put out fires, do CPR and first aid and understand a bus map.

Somewhat more useless skill:
Want to get rid of some AA rechargeable batteries? Give them to me, and I will promptly lose them. I have no trouble keeping normal AA batteries, but I think my charger must be a portal to another universe.

  • When I was in college, I was working at the TV station in what’s called Master Control. When we were due to go on-air, I pressed The Button. One day, the button broke - its cap popped off and disappeared through an open space in the raised floor and into the snakepit of cables. After a moment of panic, I thoight that the ink tube of a pen would fit into the switch and be able to activate the thing. It did. :cool:
10

More of a Jack-a-napes of all trades here. I’ll try anything once, most likely screw it up once, and then never have a problem with it again. It is possibly my lack of common sense that gets me into projects for which I am initialy unqualified (that persons of average to better intelligence would simply hire out) and my stubbornness that sees me through the successful completion of a project. In 10 years I’ve hired a professional Jack exactly two times: Once to install a gas appliance in my basement (I watched though…I think I can do it next time :smiley: ), and once to unscrew a very simple maintenance thing with my car…I still can’t believe that last one!

House: Can/Will do anything except pour a concrete foundation. It’d take too long using a shovel, bags of cement and a wheelbarrow. Once utilities are delivered to the house I can take care of the rest.

Cars: Only been beaten once by a car. Anything more involved than a tuneup I buy the Hanes/Chilton’s manual and have at it. People actually pay me to do stuff to their cars now. I do not do bodywork because I’m no artist, but I can do paint. Watched Dad overhaul a few engines…I bet I could do that.

Yard: First year doing a veggie garden, seems to be doing well. In-ground sprinkler system works like a charm. I’m not much of an animal killer/skinner, but I’ve raised chickens & gotten eggs aplenty.

Misc: I can troubleshoot most computer issues one gets oneself into. If not I have relatives :slight_smile: Deadly with a rifle with open sights or scope, not bad with a shotgun, incredible with a grenade launcher, dangerous with a handgun (read “poor marksman”); never lost in the woods as long as I have a map & compas. Can drive a M1 Abrams & a Bradley & a Hummer; not a bad cook. Enough knowlege of Insurance & Investing to stay out of trouble.

11

I like to think I am when it comes to academia and trivia but in skills? Hell, no. I can barely boil water and chewing gum while walking is a death sentence for me.

12

I can sew, heck, technically a sewing machine is a power tool.
wilderness survival skills too.
First aid. Son of a doctor, so I think some was by osmosis. I’m 0 for 3 on CPR though.
automotive repair. Tranny rebuilt in High School, more since.
home repairs and constuction (I can practically build a house)
Electrical skills (I can even wire the house.)
landscaping (I’ll also give it a garden and retaining wall)
creative skills (I’m musically inclined play bass, and do theatre. I can draw, paint, sculpt)
I know a good deal about science but kinda suck at math (decent knowledge of history and other social sciences)
I’m also very knowledgable in the realm of layout and editing (Actually, any creative computer program I excel at)
I can swim and even have advanced boating knowledge and skills (Bareboat license, considering taking the USCG captains for giggles)
l33t computor skillz (Systems administrator at an ad agency is my paying gig)
This is but a partial list, but as you can see I am well versed in many areas.

I also excel at cutting, pasting, and editing OPs to fit my own needs.

13

Bit of a musical & art JOAT here. I play drums in a hardcore band, bass in another hardcore band, produce hip-hop, trip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, and can do full on audio engineering. On the art side, I do graphic design, 3D design, build websites, Flash, etc.

14

Yeah, everytime I see a welder on sale I think about it.

Funny you mention plaster. a few years ago I helped refurb a house that was built in 1908. I did all the rewiring and replumbing. All the walls were redwood lath and plaster. In one of the bathrooms, we moved a door, the tub, sink and commode. I tried my hand on the wall in the bathroom we trashed.

I’ll admit it. I sucked big time! It took a lot of time to get it right. Thank God for light fixtures, mirrors and art to hide the flaws. After that, we hired a real plaster master to redo the other rooms.

15

“Jack of All Trades”? Are you kidding me? Man, I’m barely an "Eight of Some Trades That Don’t Require All That Much Knowledge to Perform.

16

I can:
-bring home the bacon
-fry it up in a pan
-be a tremendous smart-ass
-analyze your investment accounts for profitability or signs of fraud
-make excel spreadsheets without using a mouse
-cook like a professional (Emeril’s a pussy!)
-change a flat tire
-repair your bicycle
-prepare an environmental impact report
-design an environmental scientific study
-train dogs
-make beer
-four-wheel
-do some kung-fu
-dance like nobody’s business
-freestyle frisbee
-mountain bike
-wakeboard
-snowboard
I could keep going, but you already stopped reading a while ago…

17

A jack of all trades knows/learns less and less about more and more till s/he knows nothing about everything!

On the other hand:

A specialist knows/learns more and more about less and less till s/he knows nothing about everything!

18

I was once called a Jerkoff-of-all-trades. It wasn’t true. Actually, I’m a master of a few trades, a jack of many, and a complete galoot of a few more. :stuck_out_tongue: